Game Five is in the books, and in it New York (3-2) picked up where they left off in the previous contest, slapping down the Atlanta Hawks with another (essentially) wire-to-wire win. Steadily piling on the points quarter after quarter until their lead reached 32 in the fourth, the Knicks rode a 39-point, eight-assist performance from Jalen Brunson and double-doubles by OG Anunoby and Karl-Anthony Towns to a 126-97 win.
Quoth ClydeWingo, “This is a pretty comprehensive and soul-destroying ass whipping.”
Meanwhile, the Sixers hit the gas in the fourth quarter to beat the Celtics 113-97, forcing a Game Six, and just like that, the Eastern Conference feels wide open again.
After Towns (16 PTS, 14 RBS, 5-7 FG) cooked the Birds in Game Four, coach Quin Snyder changed up his defensive strategy. Tonight, he put his best defender, Dyson Daniels (17 PTS, 0 STLS), on KAT and assigned Nickeil Alexander-Walker (16 PTS) to Brunson. The results were less impressive than he’d hoped.
From the start, the teams played tit-for-tat, with the Knicks making slightly more shots to take a 12-8 lead by the 6:30 mark. In the first few minutes, Josh Hart (9 PTS, 5 RBS) and Mikal Bridges (7 PTS, 3-6 FG, 27 MIN) both made buckets—an encouraging sign, given their limited production thus far through the series. The latter also jabbed the ball away from a driving Jalen Johnson (18 PTS, 10 RBS, 6 AST) to prevent what promised to be an easy score. New York was doing a good job of spreading out the scoring, with all five starters on the scoreboard by the midway point.
Halfway through the quarter, New York’s coach, Mike Brown, sent in Miles McBride (0 PTS, 20 MIN, +19) and Mitchell Robinson (7 PTS, 6 RBS, 16 MIN) for Bridges and Anunoby, respectively, while Snyder subbed in Gabe Vincent and Jonathan Kuminga (13 PTS, 4 RBS). So far in the series, the vagaries of Kuminga’s play have foretold Atlanta’s success: he played well in Games Two and Three, which Atlanta took; he played less well in Games One and Four, which they didn’t.
In the latter half of the period, Brunson was limping. He had turned his ankle on Saturday and stepped on Vincent’s sneaker tonight. It didn’t diminish his productivity—he scored eight points on 4-of-8 shooting—but Jalen’s ankles are increasingly a source of concern around these parts. With the Hawks, who were the league’s fifth-best three-point shooting team this season, making just one of their first six three-point attempts, New York steadily crept ahead and went into Q2 up 35-22, thanks to a Jordan Clarkson (9 PTS, 16 MIN) floater at the buzzer.
Check out Mitch’s bonk on Kuminga:
Fun fact: OG Anunoby set a new career high in the first quarter with seven total rebounds. You can easily make the case for him being the MVP of the series.
In the second quarter, Tyler Kolek wasn’t playing, but he managed to get on Kuminga’s nerves, and a ref had to intervene. Love that spunk. Meanwhile, the Knicks continued to roll behind Jose Alvarado (12 PTS, 12 MIN), Bridges, Hart, Towns, and Robinson. The double-big lineup while the captain rested? Coach Brown must have received our Christmas list. When Towns drove to the cup and stretched the score to 43-27 at the nine-minute mark, Snyder needed a timeout to reorganize his troops.
After falling behind by 17, the visitors chipped away at their deficit but were hindered by their failure to (a) make shots and (b) get offensive rebounds. Concerningly, however, both Towns (who also was injured in Game Four) and Brunson were limping now. That didn’t stop them from breaking double digits, though, and when Jalen scored a Hart-assisted layup at the three-minute mark, their advantage had ballooned to 20.
Swinging the ball around, the Peaches generated plenty of uncontested looks. It was hard to watch open misses without thinking that Boston or Cleveland would be feasting, but you play the team in front of you, and New York cheerfully allowed the Georgians to bomb away, given that they made only 6-of-20 through the half. Thanks to an 11-5 run over the final three minutes, the Hawks were able to save a little face and reduce the intermission score to 64-48.
Here’s a wild stat for you: New York attempted only eight three-pointers in the first half (and made three). According to Statmuse.com, that’s the fewest attempts in a first half all season. Thus far, they didn’t need them. Through two quarters, they had outscored their guests 40-22 in the paint, outrebounded them 25-14, limited fast-break points to two, and committed just five turnovers. Brunson led all scorers with 17 (on 8-of-13 shooting), and both Towns and Anunoby were on their way to double-doubles. Bridges was a no-show again, with two points on two shots in 13 minutes and a +1 in a game New York had led by 22. If there’s one guy who can’t wait for this series to be over, it must be him. For the Birds, Johnson had 14 points and seven boards at the break.
The third quarter started with a continuation of the first half. New York kept crashing the boards, Brunson hit a triple to restore a 19-point lead, and the Hawks missed more shots. Mike Brown used a timeout to give the guys a breather at the 7:30 mark, and Bridges drove for a dunk on the next possession.
Around the four-minute mark, Atlanta capitalized on a Brunson miss, a McBride turnover, and a Walker triple to reduce the deficit to 14. Having seen many a double-digit lead slip away, we were anxious, but Atlanta couldn’t get their act together. They missed a couple, Johnson turned the ball over, and Tony Bradley sent Clarkson to the line for two freebies. When McBride hit Mitch for an alley-oop with 3:30 left, Snyder was on the wrong end of 83-65 and needed another timeout.
The Hawks were molting before our eyes. Bradley and McCollum missed on four attempts at the charity stripe, McCollum was blocked by Alvarado on a layup, and Kuminga blanked from deep while a full minute and a half passed without either team scoring. Alvarado benefited from another offensive rebound when he swished from deep with 25 seconds left, and our heroes were up 90-72 after three.
In the fourth, Brunson cracked off 12 of New York’s first 14 points (and he assisted on the other two with an alley-oop to Robinson). Scoring with a layup, a floater, a triple, and free throws, he single-handedly restored a 19-point lead with eight minutes left.
For the guests, Onyeka Okongwu contributed six points and Johnson dunked, but for every punch, Brunson and the Bockers had an equal or greater counterpunch. Midway through the frame, the differential touched 28. Aside from a Tyler Kolek three-pointer, all this game needed was a little more confidence-building for Bridges—and we got it when he swished Brunson’s eighth dime for a triple at 4:10.
After that, Brunson took a bow and a standing ovation before slipping off to the locker room, still noticeably limping. Jalen’s made of granite. I just wish his ankles were, too.
Kolek, Landry Shamet (‘memba him?), Pacome Dadiet, Jeremy Sochan, and Ariel Hukporti came on to secure the win, and we had a Buddy Hield sighting as Snyder emptied his bench. Smooth sailing from there, and a happy cap to a second-straight, reassuring win.
Up Next
The series swings back to Atlanta for Game Six. Safe travels, Knickerbockers.
